


My Holy Shroud

by mydyingatheist



Category: Muse
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, M/M, Muse - Freeform, Musicians, Piano, Teenagers, talent show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-29
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-15 06:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/524075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydyingatheist/pseuds/mydyingatheist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matthew Bellamy hates the piano and his life until he meets a very different man...girl...guy....gal...Dominic Howard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Talent Show

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Taylor](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Taylor).



April 23rd, 1991

Darkness shadowed my world, crushing my already deflated moods as the talent show approached giving me no mercy in my already tight schedule. Physics, biology, calculus, piano, literature of French and English bombarded me day after day. College level courses at a mere year 12 was too much for me along with my family's high expectations. Piano. I was to play piano for the rest of my life regardless of my obsessive love for the sciences. Every day before I attempted my stack of homework, I have to play piano for four hours straight with no breaks, even for the bathroom. The worst part was, I hated the piano.

Matthew J. Bellamy

My nan woke me early in the morning the day of the talent show by slamming my piano compositions in my face. She began yelling at me as she usually did, pulling me from my warm bed. My bare nipples perked at the cold air and I wrapped my arms closely to my bare body. Nan threw a pair of boxers in my face and pushed me out of my room into the stuffy spare room that housed my grand piano. I stiffly stretched my slim body up, my ribs sticking out of my sides. I pulled my boxers on and slumped down into the piano bench, setting my compositions in front of myself on the music stand. My fingers raised to play, but hesitated a few centimeters above the keys. They didn't want to play. I was just too tired. I pulled my hands back to my sides and sighed loudly. I stood up to go get back in bed when a sharp corner of a book knocked me to the side.

Out of nowhere nan hand come in the room and noticed I was not playing and felt it was necessary to hit some sense into me I presume. She began yelling at me as I walked to the kitchen for a cup of tea. 

"You worthless piece of shit. How do you expect to ever succeed?" she screamed in my face as I blankly drank my tea. "Are you listening?!"

I looked up at her and blinked a few times, staring into her crazed eyes. I put my tea down and trotted up to my room, grabbing my bag and shoving my books into it. I pulled on some somewhat clean jeans and a generic shirt and a hoodie. I threw on some Chucks and grabbed my compositions and ran out the door with another whack on the head from nan as a goodbye. 

I walked around aimlessly, with my bag over my shoulder. I checked my watch and noticed I had an hour and a half before class actually started. I looked around the road and noticed I was fairly close to campus, but didn't really want to go straight there. I settled on going into the local bake shop a few streets over that over looked the beach. The young clerk greeted me in a cheery smile when I walked in. I looked in my bag and thankfully had a few pounds to pay for a pastry and a drink. I ordered a croissant and my second cup of tea for the day from the smiling clerk. I took a seat at a small table near the window and began to nibble on my breakfast. I looked out the window as I sorted my thoughts and found myself dazzled at the low waves. The rolling sea was so calm in the early morning tides unlike my life at the moment. 

When I finished my breakfast, I left the small bakery and walked over to the an open field looking out over the sea. I sat down in a small patch of dirt to avoid grass stains on my pants. I closed my eyes and nodded off a bit into sleep, but was woken up consistently by the fear of being late. My head lolled down and hung there in my exhaustion, probably making me appear drunk. My suspicions were proven true when a bloke with really long wavy blonde hair wandered over with a look of concern on his face. 

"Oi. Mate? You okay?" he questioned in a calming voice. 

"Oh I'm just splendid if I don't have to fucking go..." I spat. 

"Go?" 

"To the talent show. I don't want the fucking play anymore. I hate the piano, I hate my nan, and most of all...I hate myself." 

He stared at me for a moment with a blank stare. I analyzed his face, but found not one trace of any human emotion on it.

"Well I'm in the talent show. I'm sure it's not that bad. I mean I bet you are brilliant," he commented softly taking a step towards me before seating himself next to me, facing the ocean. 

"I'm never good," I grunted under my breath turning away from him and burying my head in my hands. I felt his hand brush up my back and grab my shoulder to turn me towards him, but I brushed him off not knowing if should trust him as a friend or not. I just sat there for a few moments pouting when I heard him shuffle around behind me. 

"Well I'll catch you later mate, it's almost time for class." I listened to him walk away until the soft pitter patter of his feet were completely out of my hearing. I glanced back to see the last glimpse of him walking away before he turned the corner onto the next street. 

I slowly got up and brushed the dirt from my arse and began to follow the path the blonde stranger had just taken. I slowly crept my way around the turn and came in full view of my school which was bustling with excitement of all the students buzzing about before classes started. 

I made my way through the crowd quietly, narrowly avoiding all the jocks and druggies who were always pushing each other around. I climbed up the front steps and into the building. 

I made an immediate right and walked to my locker. I didn't really need to come here, but I did just standing there awkwardly admiring the sad blue that painted the cold metal cages that housed books, pot, smutty magazines, and such. I heard a few people giggle and, I assumed, were pointing at me as I stared intently at these lockers. I had never really examined them, but at this very moment they were something really beautiful because, like me, they were dull and unloved and for a moment, a small fraction of a second, I too felt like I belonged somewhere. My moment was ruined, however, when the bell rang and sent a sea of people charging my way. I walked quickly to avoid the push of the crowd and made it to my first period.


	2. Chapter 2

Physics was never fun. The only thing that ever interested me were the laws of thermodynamics and how entropy reacts with our everyday lives. I liked the big picture aspect. These thoughts always were in the back of my head during first period. 

We were taking a test today and my teacher gave me mine despite the fact I had to leave class in the middle for rehearsals and set up for the talent show. I drummed my pencil on the side of my desk as I thought and scanned the test sheet. Question 1:

A rope rests on two platforms which are both inclined at an angle µ (which you are free to pick), as shown. The rope has uniform mass density, and its coeﬃcient of friction with the platforms is 1. The system has left-right symmetry. What is the largest possible fraction of the rope that does not touch the platforms? What angle µ allows this maximum value?

What. W H A T. This was the most confusing question I had ever read and she expected me to do this? I allowed my eyes to glance at the clock and panic set in. I only had twenty minutes to complete this test before I had to leave, but there was no way if all the problems looked like this. My stomach began to churn as I laid my head down on the desk. My body began trembling in a cold sweat and my head began to spin. 

I lost control of my body and felt myself slide off the desk and fall onto the hard tiled floor. I curled instinctively into a ball in a fetal position to protect the uninjured parts of my body. A few people gasped around me and one girl screamed, but I didn't know who had reacted because my eyes were clamped shut. I felt hands on my arms, trying to pull them away from my legs. My head was spinning and my consciousness was fading in and out. I remember hands around my body holding me against their body and a familiar voice.

~

I woke up in a sterile white room that smelled of medical formulas and health. I lifted my head an inch or so off the pillow that was apparently under it and looked around. I assumed I was on a small cot in the corner of the room. Opposite of my position was a desk with the young nurse writing down more than likely everything she knew about what happened to me. I, for the life of me, could not remember but I had - ouch - a sharp pain in my neck. I laid my head back down and sighed quietly. 

Just then, the boy I had seen earlier walked in with a student aide lanyard on. I closed my eyes to pretend as if I was still out of it. 

"Ma'am," he said quietly.

"Yes? Oh you must be Dominic!" she exclaimed towards his direction. Dominic eh? 

"Yes that's me. Is....is he alright? He hit his head pretty hard." Why does he care? 

"Oh he should be fine sweetie. He should be up and about any minute now. His body just went into a stress shock I assume and he hit his head just a bit too hard. Thank you for carrying him all the way over here though! You are one strong young man!" Strong. Pft. How?! He's so twig like. 

"Oh it was nothing. I was just running an office slip up there and he just keeled over. Hardly know the bloke." Yeah we just met this morning. 

"Well all the same thank you for bringing him up so I didn't have to." 

I heard some papers being shuffled and footsteps moving towards me. The sound of a cheap plastic chair being dragged to the side of the cot pierced my ears as someone sat next me. I waited for a minute, just listening to the calm breathing of who I assumed was Dominic. Slowly, I opened one eye and saw the blonde sitting there, staring at his thumbs as he twirled them with no emotion on his face. I slowly opened the other eye and tried to sit up, but found my head felt like a thousand pounds. 

"Rehearsals," I whispered weakly as I tried to get up again.

"Whoa calm down there," Dominic whispered, gently pushing me back down on the mattress. 

"But-" I tried to get up again, but my attempt was stopped once again by Dominic's hand. 

"Calm down, Matt. I already told you, you will be fine just sit back and take a minute to yourself." 

"Did they call my Nan?" 

"No.....do you want us to?" 

"No!" I yelled a little bit too loudly. 

"Okay...okay calm down and relax. You deserve it." Sincerity coated his voice. 

I sat there for a minute and soaked in those words. That was the first time ever that someone had told me to relax, told me to calm down. I was always on the fast track trying to get better and better until there was nothing left for me to accomplish, but I would never reach that high. There was no one who ever sat down and tried to understand me, but this guy whom I had met a mere hour ago already understood me more than my mates I had known my whole life did. It was nice. 

We just sat there in silence for quite awhile. A few bells rang, but Dominic didn't move from his spot next to me. He finally looked at his wrist watch and smirked. 

"What is it?" I asked curiously, slowly getting up with some pain still in my neck. 

"Well don't go into shock again, but the show starts in ten minutes." 

I began to run over to the door, but he stopped me and reassured me that they knew what had happened this morning. I calmed down and allowed him to walk me over to the auditorium where we went backstage and found our places. He separated from me and went to greet his band. I began to go over my compositions in my head, air keyboarding. I paced back and forth as I did so, my nerves getting the best of me as the clock neared showtime. 

Other acts were practicing their bits a bit panic-y as I did, with dancers leaping and singers bellowing loudly as they tried to swallow their nerves. I glanced over at Dom's band and saw his bandmates were blokes like him - completely opposite my style. Dom began to look over my way, but I turned away to avoid making eye contact and a possible awkward social situation between me and his friends. 

My attention was drawn away from them quickly, however, as the theatre director started calling names. One by one the acts went out and preformed followed by a large round of clapping and cheering. Then it was my turn. 

"Matthew Bellamy come here. You are on in 1 minute," the director said gesturing me to the side curtain. 

I walked over reluctantly and felt my stomach flopping with every step. I stood next to her and waited silently, watching a singer nail ever chord she had to hit. Everyone began clapping as she exited the stage and I was about to go on when I looked to the opposite opening in the curtain and saw Dom watching. He gave me a little wave before I started to walk. 

Theatre tech students wheeled out the piano in a hurry and I pulled the bench to the appropriate spot. I stretched my fingers briefly and sat down scanning the crowd. My nan was in the back watching intently. I nodded my head and began to play my composition entitled Piano Thing. The start was smooth and slow as it was, but I began to feel my hands start to shake as the speed increased for the first winding down, followed by the second. My stomach was churning as I peeked a glance at the crowd to see all of their faces were straight. I stiffened at the thought of them hating it as I reached the final climax and - bam - the last note. I sat there for a second and looked over at the still crowd. I swallowed the lump in my throat as best as I could before I awkwardly stood and half bowed, before starting to walk off stage. I began to breathe harder and harder until I reached the edge f the curtain and heard everyone screaming and clapping loudly. I looked out of the curtain to see everyone standing and clapping and whistling. My eyes searched the crowd for nan, but saw she had already left. My smile faded as I walked back stage holding tears back. 

She didn't even want me to feel loved, did she? I was nearly exiting the theatre when Dom stopped me. 

He softly grabbed my shoulders and looked at me. Tears began to bubble over my eyes as I could no longer hold them back. I was a pathetic little cunt and now Dominic had seen the true me - a worthless piece of shit who can't play piano. I looked up into his greyed eyes through murky vision and saw sincere concern. 

"Your nan?" he whispered softly. 

"Mmm," I muttered trying not to cry out hysterically. 

"Shush," he hummed pulling me into a strong embrace. At first, I was startled. After a few moments, however, I leaned my head on his cozy shoulder and buried my face into the fabric of his shirt. I felt safe for once and strangely...at home for the first time in a long time thanks to him.


End file.
